President's Perspective
General Membership Meetings: Why We Gather . . .

(Oct. 18, 2010) Our final membership meeting of the year has been set for Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 6:45 p.m., at the Guild’s Washington office: 1100 15th St. NW. We’re in Suite 350. A member will be in the lobby at the northwest corner of 15th and L or you can get the security guard to wave you in.

One of the necessary orders of business will be to begin the nominating process for four WBNG officers and five at-large members of the Executive Council. If you are interested in serving on the local board, let me know. Call me at 202-541-3263, or e-mail me at mpattison@catholicnews.com, and we’ll work together to identify the best way you can serve.

Note well that I said “begin the nominating process” above. Every nominee has to signify in writing that she or he accepts the nomination. Under our bylaws, there is a petition period by which other WBNG members can get nominated for president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, as well as for the five at-large Executive Council delegate positions.

The nomination rules are in the bylaws, and can be accessed here. Only when there is no opposition can nominees be declared elected by acclamation.

We’ll also make nominations for delegates to the Newspaper Guild sector conference Feb. 2-6 in Orlando, and the CWA convention in July in Las Vegas. Each of the past two years, both the TNG and CWA conventions were held in Washington. This allowed us to max out on the number of delegates we could send to each, since our slate was all commuters who (at least in theory) could pack a lunch. For 2011, we probably won’t send near as many to either site.

Following the membership meeting, the Executive Council will meet. Members are welcome to stay, but they won’t have a vote – and they don’t have a voice unless the local president chooses to recognize them! But if you want to see how the Guild works, stick around.